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Thursday, February 21, 2008

Buffalohair Free Burma: SURVIVING THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

SURVIVING THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

From the jungles of Burma to the concrete jungle of modern America has
become a challenge for the new arrivals to say the very least. I spoke
with a Karen refugee woman, through my interpretor, and I was saddened
by what she told me. Though she survived the ethnic cleansing of the
military junta in Burma and managed to survive 10 years of hardships in
a refugee camp on the Thai border, she was hard pressed to survive in
modern America.

Given three months from the time she arrived in America she was
supposed to learn English, find a job and then pursue the America
Dream. For immigrants from Europe this would not be much of a problem.
Granted there is always the language barrier that must be conquered as
well. But imagine, if you will, the refugee who lived in the jungles of
Burma then dropped into modern American society. It's a culture shock
to say the least. Three months truly was not enough time to assimilate
with our complex culture for her and the multitude of refugees who've
come to America with hopes and dreams.

She told me of how she used to dream of this place of freedom called
America. She and other Burmese who lived their entire lives in the
jungles never ventured to any urban areas even in their own country.
They were jungle people who lived their lives hunting and gathering as
well as farm their land. Never did they want nor have the desire to go
to any city. Free from the complexities of modern life they lived with
nature for the most part. Their lives where likened to living in a
Garden of Eden where the jungle provided all their needs. They were
children of the jungle who lived in paradise until a military junta
decided to gather them up and place them in bondage and forced labor
camps or simply raped and murdered.

What a sad and horrific introduction to the 21st Century to be
hunted down and in many cases murdered in cold blood by rockets,
bullets and bombs. Their crime, being a simple and peaceful people who
had no need for modern ways or ideologies. Quickly they learned the
harsh realities of this modern era of greed as soldiers came to their
villages, burned down their homes, raped their women and killed anyone
who opposed this new iron fisted rule. Their only salvation was to find
sanctuary in one of the many refugee camps along the Thai border.

Naïve to the ways of modern society they fell pray to unscrupulous and
fast talking people. Stripped of their innocence their only hope was to
find a host country who would offer them salvation from the horrors of
living as a refugee in this ambivalent world. Their dream, to live in
America the land of the free. Eagerly they drank up all that was
American. They heard stories about this land of “Milk and Honey”. Oh
how they dreamed of living in such a free place, America. Hmmmmmmmmm...

It's been eight months since she and her family left Thailand and
only 5 months since the US government stopped giving them assistance.
With 10 people living in this household sharing a two bedroom
apartment, life has not been quite the American Dream from legends told
in the refugee camps. Totally ill prepared to deal with modern American
society has made them targets again to say the very least. In this
household there is only one person who managed to find work, her
husband. He found work but it has fallen short of the hopes and dreams
they once conjured. They were given three months to assimilate and
enter American society, gads. Now he works out of town for minimum wage
and lives with other refugees in an effort to support his family.

Others tell me of how relations have been maimed and injured by lawn
mowers, hedge cutters and other common garden tools. Many who have been
injured are fearful of reprisal and never report these events. Some
work for far less than minimum wage and are not aware of laws that
protect workers in the work place. Thankful they are not being hunted
down and killed they press forward though almost impossible odds. “We
thought this land was free but you have to pay money just to sit” one
tribesman told me.

Sadly rape still follows the women of the jungle like so many other
ethnic minority women. One woman told me of how she was held captive
and raped repeatedly for days until she was made to go to the bank and
withdraw all her funds by the perpetrator. Undaunted she went into the
bank and immediately notified authorities. The culprit was quickly
dispatched and eventually placed in prison, you go girl. But this is
not always the case and rape is still a very real reality for minority
woman. This has been the case for Native women as well. Statistically
speaking 7 out of 10 assaults on Native women were perpetrated by non
Native men. This horrific statistic is shared by Canada as well.

Social issues ranging from alcohol abuse to spousal abuse have been
largely ignored. Despair and sorrow also haunt these people since this
new world is so foreign to them. Funny, I find this to be the case with
my people living on the reservation. Many live in poverty on the rez
rather than endure racism and hatred from non Natives. My brother was a
roofer but quit when his employer refused to give him more than half
his promised wage. I can imagine how much worse it is for a refugee who
does not know the language or the labor laws.

Unscrupulous business owners have taken full advantage of the ignorance
of these innocent people and have literally placed some of them in
indentured servitude. They work 20 hour days for less than minimum wage
and are kept is squalor. Ironically some of these ruthless businessmen
are educated Burmese. Again another mirror reflection from the Native
American world fore it's been my observation the cruelest people I've
encountered was our very own. We expect others to be cruel to us but
when it's one of our own people it is the ultimate betrayal.

From the Maori, Aborigines, Native American's, Mayan, Cambodians,
Nigerians and other ethnic minorities, assimilation has been quite a
disaster from the onset. Tribal people in general have had to struggle
with a society that was not groomed for life but groomed for material
gain. It has become a crime of sorts not to have this material lusting
and desire to have “stuff” like this modern age seems to require. Why
is it such a crime to be truly free? How come everything has a price
tag in modern society? What has this world become when you can't simply
sit by a stream and enjoy the day? Civilization? Show me where it is
and I'll find the contradiction fore there is nothing civil about this
modern culture, nothing.

When I was a child assimilation was a very real issue for my mom and I.
We just did not understand this strange new world. The fact my ma and I
were from an ethnic group other than the status quo placed us in such a
negative light I still suffer the emotional consequences (PTSD) from
the hatred we endured. I remember men coming up to my mother and
propositioning her in my presence. I can still remember this line, “Do
you want a new pa pa little boy?”, and we were US citizens. The feel of
warm spittle on my face from non Native people who used to spit on us
still haunts me to this day. I will never forget how we were treated. I
can just imagine how these little chubby cheek Burmese kids feel when
their mothers are accosted and asked for sexual favors simply because
they are minorities.

Guess it is only apparent that I've taken a personal vested interest in
the plight of these human beings. I've allied myself with Kachin,
Karen, Burmese officials and ex political prisoners who are true
champions of their people. I am honored to call them my friends. They
are a wealth of knowledge and are my key to the secret world of the
refugee communities they serve both nationally and internationally. We
all agree there is a serious lacking in educating and preparing people
from the jungle to face the challenges of this modern and complex
society. Many refugees never had an electric appliance in their lives
let alone electricity. And for some refugees this has become a living
nightmare from which they will never awaken from. Sadly they ponder if
death from the military junta would have been a more humane way to die.

Your Devil's Advocate
Buffalohair_________________Creativity is the byproduct of a fertile mind

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About Me

Born on the North West Coast of the US. I am use to Snow Capped
Mountains, beautiful Forests, wild flowers on wild Rivers. The once wild
foods, berries of the area and the beloved Salmon.

I could look out across the cold waters of the Pacific Ocean. I could look in land at the Snow Capped Mountains.

I watched the Hawks and Eagles soaring in the clean pure blue skies.
Enjoyed the thrill of the first crys of the Geese in Spring and Winter.
As thousands of flocks in v formation made their dramatic way North or
South each season.

Loving the show of the Northern Lights dancing across the skies.

Hearing the howl of the wolf packs. Hearing them pausing at the tent flap at night, as they listened in on you.

Finding you were being tracked by curious Mountain Lions in the snow
when crossing back over the trails and seeing their foot prints behind
yours.

Seeing huge bear tracks just filling in with water on the trail and the
hair standing up on the back of your neck realizing he/she is right
next to you in the brush.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Here is what Adam says on his MYSPACE BLOG page about his new venture...."Hello everybody! I am introducing you to a virtual cable television network called OVNTV, and coming soon to their channels is the first virtual cable channel dedicated to Native Americans.I want everyone to check out www.OVNTV.com. It's the first internet television network of its kind, and it will be the first to feature Native channels. A press release will come soon for everyone who has Native content to provide to these channels so we can hear your story. My whole life I've been trying to give the true perspective of who we are, and now our aspiring Native filmmakers have a place for the world to access their content. Finally we will be able to create and present our image from our perspective for the world to see...And it's FREE! -- OVN currently requires Internet Explorer 6+ and Windows XP or Vista, but the Mac version is coming soon." -- Way to go Adam! I have a MAC. So, I'm waiting for that version. Congrats and all the best. Please click on the picture for OVNTV!